A Day at the Science Museum

"Tarantula"

270 pieces  |  The Mini Block: 92210

Assembled by Mike Alfare, February 2025

Interaction Rating: 1 / 5 (interaction with the set is discouraged because pieces may break off)

December 30, 2023

When the couple's nephew, Andrew, and sister, Rachel, were visiting Richmond from their home in Alexandria, they decided to visit the Science Museum of Virginia. It's a place of wonders, especially for a kid like Andrew. Both of his parents are scientists, so he gets his fascination honestly. There were so many things to do, starting before they even bought their tickets. There's a pendulum in the main atrium that knocks a domino over every hour, and they arrived close to when the next domino was supposed to fall. They joined the crowd and watched each successive swing until it finally knocked the domino over, to a hoopla of cheers. Once inside, they found an exhibit where Andrew and Hunter attempted to race a cheetah (both of them lost by a long shot). Hunter and Andrew took turns playing a robotic arm in air hockey. Upstairs, they discovered an exhibit focused on physics. Hunter and Andrew built an arch out of foam pieces. By placing the keystone piece in between the two columns, they built, voila, it stood on its own! They dropped some coins down a coin shoot and watched it go round and round; Andrew didn't like that so much because he wanted to add the coins to his piggy bank instead. There was a huge train on a track outside the museum that they tried to explore, but they could only peek through the windows. Back inside, they discovered a hallway with fun, color-changing lights. They came across a control panel where they could control the color of the lights, making them dance in whatever pattern they wanted. Andrew interacted with a giant touchscreen computer to build his own unique fish that he could add to the ocean of other fish that had been created that day. One of the coolest finds was a room filled with terrariums, and inside each glass case, a different creepy crawly. Giant beetles, snakes, frogs, turtles, and you guessed it, huge furry tarantulas. They had a blast!

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They had a blast at the museum, but did not do a good job of taking photos of their experience. So here's someone else's niece and nephew looking at the pendulum swing closer to the next domino.